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Hi all. Been lurking on this forum for a while and gleaning all sorts of useful information. I finally have a question --
Bought 4 new tires (stock 245/45R17) and took the car to a dealer for alignment. They corrected toe but said camber is not fixable. From searching the forum, it seems like it may be fixable with a camber kit (ghostrider's?). Wondering if someone could look at the attached specs and see if a kit would be worthwhile or a waste of money to have it installed.
The car seems to pull to the right at times. Not sure if the specs support that feeling.
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
They are not designed to pull to the right with the camber of the road. That is an old wives tale.
I have written about this frequently on this forum. If the car pulls to the passenger side with the camber of the road then dial in 1 more degree castor (max 2) on the passenger side of the car & it will track straight. There is a dealer bulletin out on this which everybody ignores. Typically 9.6 & 10.6 degrees.
Castor & camber require the 3 way fluted bolt kit to adjust ~ cheap!
EDIT ~ Every tyre & alignment shop in SA has had this beaten into them by MBSA & even carry the bolt kits. In fairness Benz market share is huge here whereas it's small in the US.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; 11-11-2014 at 11:31 AM.
Bought 4 new tires (stock 245/45R17) and took the car to a dealer for alignment. They corrected toe but said camber is not fixable. From searching the forum, it seems like it may be fixable with a camber kit (ghostrider's?). Wondering if someone could look at the attached specs and see if a kit would be worthwhile or a waste of money to have it installed.
Fact is “Full front and rear wheel alignment” is no more! K-MAC kits allow Full adjustment Front and Rear.
Since the mid ‘90 model’s, with the ever increasing speed of vehicle assembly lines there has been no front or rear Camber (or front Caster) adjustment facility fitted OEM
Only current adjustment is front and rear Toe!
To attempt to return vehicle to factory specs to resolve costly premature inner edge tire wear, improve traction, and fix steering pull the only current alternative for Camber and Caster is to fit offset, slotted bolts (for the front only). But these are inaccurate - one only position bolts - offering a minimal .3 of one degree adjustment (3mm / 1/8”).
It’s no wonder many owners continually change tire brands or go from one MB Dealer or alignment shop to another trying to get it right/fix the problem!
We saw the need therefore "to fix it right the first time" by designing, developing, patenting (and re-instating from the 1990's) fully adjustable front (and rear) suspension for virtually all models.
The current K-MAC kits have up to 4 times the adjustment of these one only position offset bolts (both Positive or Negative). And unlike these one position bolts they can be accurately adjusted on car(under load) direct on alignment turntable (no need for labor intensive removal/replacement each time).
Providing ongoing full, precise adjustment of both Camber and Caster settings if altering suspension height, fitting wide profile tires/wheels, curb knock damage or being able to quickly fine tune/change specs on race days (extra Negative/plus track width to go deeper into the corners/lower lap times). With the unique K-MAC patented design only requiring use of a single wrench/no disassembly.
For the rear, similar kits for precise Camber adjustment (with additional Toe to compensate for the new Camber facility). Importantly unlike the alternative rear adjustable Camber control arms available K-MAC kits do not move top of tire outwards - this reducing essential clearance top of tire to outer fender when adjusting to fix premature inner edge tire wear/improve rear traction.
Also instead of spherical bearings as used on control arms which prematurely pound out allowing metal to metal contact. At K-MAC we have developed long life elastomer bushings.
Bonus with the four front and four rear bushes is that they are also designed with twice the load bearing area and replace the highest wearing suspension bushings. And with K-MAC no special tools are required to fit.
Note (Product background re bushings): Majority OEM bushes have air voids to allow 2 axis movement. So control arms can travel through their required arcs without binding, locking up.
Essential with today’s modern designs of “multi-link” arms with different angle mount points!
Yet most “aftermarket” replacement bushes the industry standard is to eliminate these air voids in an attempt to improve both steering response and reduce wheel hop, loss of traction under brake and acceleration.
The opposite is often the case – the elimination of the air voids causes even more severe wheel hop, loss of traction through binding, locking up of arms.
K-MAC bushes – with 50 years now of bush technology are designed without the air voids but where needed with “full 2 axis movement”. Result is power to the ground – maximum traction/acceleration/braking - along with noticeably improved directional control and steering response for highway driving, lane changing.
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
The K-Mac solution is the most elegant. But I have never experienced any problem whatsoever in aligning a Benz to spec with the 3 Way fluted bolts including dialing in additional castor.
They are not designed to pull to the right with the camber of the road. That is an old wives tale.
I have written about this frequently on this forum. If the car pulls to the passenger side with the camber of the road then dial in 1 more degree castor (max 2) on the passenger side of the car & it will track straight. There is a dealer bulletin out on this which everybody ignores. Typically 9.6 & 10.6 degrees.
Castor & camber require the 3 way fluted bolt kit to adjust ~ cheap!
EDIT ~ Every tyre & alignment shop in SA has had this beaten into them by MBSA & even carry the bolt kits. In fairness Benz market share is huge here whereas it's small in the US.
Good to know, I think I'll go give this info to the Firestone guy who did my alignment and see if it helps!
my car is still pulling to the right after new set of tires, driver's side lower control arm and 3 alignments..... he check front brakes(possible seizure), every suspension component and found nothing.... I am not really familiar with alignment and its components.... do I just buy above kit for both front and have him install this and do another alignment???
Nope. It is a whole lot better, but it still pulls to the right. It is more evident the bigger the crowning on the road or if it's slanted a bit (the latter I assume would be a normal reaction to the road.)
I'm all out of ideas and have just come to the idea of getting used to it. After 2 alignments, one after replacing my wheel hubs and bearings, I don't want to spend another dime on an alignment, unless absolutely necessary.
Nope. It is a whole lot better, but it still pulls to the right. It is more evident the bigger the crowning on the road or if it's slanted a bit (the latter I assume would be a normal reaction to the road.)
I'm all out of ideas and have just come to the idea of getting used to it. After 2 alignments, one after replacing my wheel hubs and bearings, I don't want to spend another dime on an alignment, unless absolutely necessary.
So how much did you end up spending?? did they charge you for new bolts?alignment?
I will be going in for 4th alignment as soon as I receive these bolts....
Also did they provide you with printout after each alignment?
So how much did you end up spending?? did they charge you for new bolts?alignment?
I will be going in for 4th alignment as soon as I receive these bolts....
Also did they provide you with printout after each alignment?
First time I got an alignment, was when I first got the car. Again, it alleviated the situation, but it didn't fix it.
Second time I had no choice but to get an alignment because they took it all apart to replace the bearings and hubs. The price for everything was pretty steep, the alignment alone was $90, which seems to be standard just about everywhere.
I do have the print out of the latest alignment. I'm gonna upload it later, maybe it can help you, and it can help someone help me.
Maybe I'll give these bolts a shot and get one last alignment.
Do shops like Firestone normally do this? Or just a standard alignment without the camber bolts?
First time I got an alignment, was when I first got the car. Again, it alleviated the situation, but it didn't fix it.
Second time I had no choice but to get an alignment because they took it all apart to replace the bearings and hubs. The price for everything was pretty steep, the alignment alone was $90, which seems to be standard just about everywhere.
I do have the print out of the latest alignment. I'm gonna upload it later, maybe it can help you, and it can help someone help me.
Maybe I'll give these bolts a shot and get one last alignment.
Do shops like Firestone normally do this? Or just a standard alignment without the camber bolts?
Yeah, post the printout of your last alignment.... Glyn will help us all
I will also let you know when my parts are in....
11-09-2014, 04:24 PM
